Local MP supports Menindee Ramsar listing

The Member for Murray Darling, John Williams, spoke in favour of the listing at a meeting this week to further explain the listing and what it would mean for the community.

The CEO of the Regional Development Australia for the Far West, Linda Nadge, says she was very excited to have Mr Williams' support.

"For the first time we'd heard some words of encouragement from the New South Wales Government since being elected and it's really important to have the State Government on side and understanding as to where we stand as a community with these kinds of aspirations

"A Ramsar site nomination is not going to go anywhere without State Government support," she said.

Ms Nadge says she was impressed at the number of people in attendance.

"We had a great turn out, we had about 40 people attended, and we were also thrilled to see that our local member John Williams attended and also addressed the meeting after our two guest speakers.

"And, certainly we had some general support expressed by our local member, and that's a sign of great things to come from the New South Wales Government."

Ramsar Convention

The Convention on Wetlands, known as the 'Ramsar Convention' is a treaty agreement where member nations endeavour to maintain and responsibly look after their wetland environments.

The Convention was agreed upon 40 years ago in Ramsar, Iran, and today has 160 nations listed as members.

Australia has the fourth highest number of conserved wetland sites with 65, and local environmental groups want to see Menindee's wetlands listed as the 66th.

Over 7.5 million hectares of Australian wetlands already have Ramsar listing and the support of local Member for Murray Darling John Williams is seen as crucial in securing similar protection for the Menindee environmental site.

Opportunity

Mr Williams says the listing could further increase tourism to the area, bringing many benefits.

"Other Ramsar sites along the Murray River have demonstrated that there is great tourism opportunities in what can be developed on that site.

"Obviously, if you're Ramsar listed, the Federal Government provides levels of funding to allow you to create developments and allow tourists to come in and access the site," he said.

"I think most people were supportive, comments and questions that were asked certainly suggested that there was an interest in seeing this progressed.

"A Ramsar listing, we start to identify the Menindee Lakes not as a water storage but as an ecological area, and I think this is very important."